How to get somebody sectioned?

[Freshstarts24]

I don’t want to give too much identifying details but would really appreciate some advice. Adult dd, quite serious undiagnosed mh issues, not had any professional support since discharging as a teen. Now quite heavily reliant on drugs which are causing physical health problems and exasperating mh issues.
Outpatient support at this point is not going to help, she needs to be admitted somewhere but I have no idea how to access this? Where do I start? I know the drugs muddy the waters so I don’t even know what type of support to look at but the root cause is obviously mh.

I don’t even know if sectioned is the right term here

from the Mind charity:

To section you, your nearest relative would need to:

• fill out a form A5 (England) or form HO5 (Wales)
• get two doctors to agree that you should be admitted to hospital. One of the doctors should know you before the assessment, for example, your GP. At least one of the doctors must be a section 12 approved doctor.

you need to start with the DD's GP i think.

GO won’t discuss with me as she’s not a child and she will not turn up for appointments

Thank you. I don’t even know how I would find one doctor that knows her let alone two.

It’s very difficult to get anyone sectioned. The best you can hope for is to keep taking your dd to A&E or calling the crisis team when they are severe.

Where are you as different legislation in different countries.
Is she a current risk to herself/other people?
You've said she has 'undiagnosed' mh issues, who's said this?
I do think the substance misuse will be an issue.

You can't get someone sectioned. However, you can try to get them assessed.
A friend of mine went through this with her son. She called the local crisis team.

You can't just decide you think she should be sectioned.

So if you are her nearest relative (legal term eg eldest parent etc) then you can ask social services for this and they will sort the assessment out if they feel it meets threshold.

sectioning happens when someone is a danger to themselves or others. This is at a very high threshold due to the challenges with beds at the moment.

the reality is inpatient beds are used for stabilisation so psychiatric medication and then discharge so in many ways very little treatment is given as the aim is for the admission to be as short as possible.

You will need to address the drug issues first.
Mental Health services won't be able help as they cannot assess to see what mental health issues there are that are not caused by the drugs.
Have a look at your local drug and alcohol services in your area.

The starting point is the GP/ A&E who can request a Mental Health Act Assessment. This can be difficult if there is drug misuse as this ultimately masks the mental illness or there may be no mental illness at all and the person's presentation is because of their drug misuse. Best of luck x

I may be wrong but I think if there are substance misuse issues they need to be dealt with before MH assessment - so I don’t think they would section. It sounds like a clinical detox would be best but think this has to be voluntary. But hopefully crisis team could advise? sorry you are experiencing this.

As above; if you think your family member is seriously mentally unwell try to get them to A&E for assessment . There should be a crisis team locally that you can co tact.You can let GP know your concerns. The reality is that relatives don't really have input into people being sectioned ; the standards are very stringent.

She wants to be sectioned, it’s not just me saying it.

Contact the crisis team. If you look for your NHS trust mental health service, there will be a number to call for immediate help. They will assess her and get her admitted if needed.

You can usually request a Mental Health Act assessment via your local crisis team or Out of Hours duty team (social services) The drugs will be the biggest concern MH teams have... Drugs mask/present as MH issues and wouldn't allow for a MH assessment - as can alcohol. If she is under the influence of drugs when attending to do an assessment, the likelihood is they will just walk away and advise drug treatment therapy - once this starts they will be better placed to assess whether there is MH from drug use or being used as a coping mechanism for MH.
Given she is an adult, they will base a lot of it on her willingness to engage and her capacity to make decisions. Unfortunately, if she has capacity, then she can make her own decisions, even if they are bad ones.
It's a tricky one and an awful situation for you. 💐

Sectioning is done against someone's will. If they are willing to go into hospital, then no section is needed.

This was my worry, but he mental health issues will not allow her to attend appointments or seek help independently.

Would dd want to be admitted? Two women I know went to A&E and said they felt suicidal and were offered an immediate place, this was earlier this year so ame pressures as now I'd imagine. Similar story for an alcoholic suffering withdrawal, I think hospitals might have access to places that GP don't.

Have a look at that form. Is your dd an immediate danger to herself or others?

Really sounds like she needs to be on a drugs program and they should also refer her for mh diagnosis.

We have had a relative who was placed on a section. In my experience they were only admitted as they were psychotic and unable to engage at all with MH services.
Does the person want to be sectioned to stop the drug use?

Being sectioned isn't like in the films. Wards are full of the most incredibly unwell people, people experiencing psychosis, people attempting to harm themselves in the most awful ways. They are traumatic places.

It's almost impossible to get someone into residential care - basically they need to be a threat to themselves or others.

I agree with this - if she has got willingness to go to hospital, then the section is irrelevant - she can go and sit in A&E for that.
Even if they came to do the Mental Health Act assessment at home and she showed that willingness (and they felt she should be in hospital) - they would offer voluntary admission anyway as it is preferred to taking away someone's liberty.

Also it is very difficult to get any sort of help at all (therapy etc) if drug use is involved.